Saratoga's Next Wave Center gets cross-country pitch

Marty Vanags, left, president of Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, looks on as William Lindheimer, general manager for Land Remediation, Inc., talks about his company's work on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in Waterford, N.Y. Vanags was in California and Chicago this week pitching the county's Next Wave Center. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Marty Vanags, left, president of Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, looks on as William Lindheimer, general manager for Land Remediation, Inc., talks about his company's work on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in ... more

Marty Vanags, left, president of Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, looks on as William Lindheimer, general manager for Land Remediation, Inc., talks about his company's work on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in Waterford, N.Y. Vanags was in California and Chicago this week pitching the county's Next Wave Center. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Marty Vanags, left, president of Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, looks on as William Lindheimer, general manager for Land Remediation, Inc., talks about his company's work on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in ... more

The partnership recently created an advisory council that will work on creating the Next Wave Center, which Vanags envisions as a "landing pad" for companies that want to do business with GlobalFoundries and other local tech companies but aren't ready or able to open a full-scale office. The tenants could range from start-ups to established companies.

The center will also focus on workforce development and training to help local companies prepare to become suppliers to GlobalFoundries and others.

Vanags' trip was not only to pitch the Next Wave Center but also Saratoga County in general.

The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership is supported by county tax revenue to attract new companies to the region and help existing companies expand and grow. The idea is to creating sustained job growth in the county.

In a phone interview on Thursday from Chicago, Vanags said he hadn't heard from anyone yet who didn't think the Next Wave Center was a great idea, although it's not like people are able to sign up yet for something that doesn't physically exist.

"So far they said, 'This is a great idea, and we want to see what you do with it,'" Vanags said.

Vanags said attracting tenants to the future facility will take multiple discussions before anyone commits.

"It's a sales process like anything else," Vanags said. "We want to be informed by the end users about how this should look like, and then we can design it better."

The first leg of Vanags' lightening trip was to the Global Semiconductor Alliance's one day Silicon Summit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. Vanags also set up one-on-one meetings with semiconductor industry executives, although he declined to reveal their identities.

The second leg was in Chicago at what is known as Consultant Connect, a two-day event that gets people like Vanags in front of dozens of real estate site selection consultants, the kind of people that search the country for potential sites for factories and offices for their clients. Vanags was meeting with 21 site consultants in 24 hours at the event.